Melandri Beats Biaggi in Superpole at Aragon

Marco Melandri took his first ever pole position in World Superbikes after edging out Max Biaggi in the third Superpole session at Motorland Aragon.

The Yamaha rider sneaked under the radar in the first two sessions, coming close to being knocked out in both of them, but delivered at the crucial moment to set the fastest time of the weekend, a 1:57.634 to edge out Biaggi by a tenth of a second.

The reigning champion was quickest in SP2 and entered the final session as the favourite and initially set the standard with a 1:57.790, but Melandri was running close behind in an attempt to pick up a slipstream, and his tactic paid dividends.

Biaggi will at least be pleased to have his Alitalia Aprilia teammate Leon Camier alongside him in third, demoting championship leader Carlos Checa to fourth on the grid. Tomorrow's first race marks the halfway stage in the season and if Biaggi is to resurrect his title defence, he must surely start to make inroads into Checa's 72 point lead.

Just a week after taking a stunning pole position at Misano, Tom Sykes qualified fifth for the factory Kawasaki squad, with Joan Lascorz joining him in SP3 before taking seventh, proving the progress being made by the Japanese manufacturer.

Starting in between them will be Eugene Laverty in sixth while Ayrton Badovini matched his best qualifying result in eighth for the BMW Motorrad Italia squad. The factory BMW team had a day to forget with both riders dropping out in SP1. As a result, Leon Haslam and Troy Corser will start tomorrow's races 14th and 16th respectively.

Today also marked the first time this year that Castrol Honda failed to make it into the Superpole session. Ruben Xaus ended the qualifying practice sessions in 17th while Jonathan Rea is sitting this weekend out, after the injuries he sustained at Misano.

Superpole Result:

Pos

Rider

Nat

Team

Lap Time

1

Marco Melandri

ITA

Yamaha World Superbike Team

1:57.634

2

Max Biaggi

ITA

Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team

1:57.790

3

Leon Camier

GBR

Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team

1:58.279

4

Carlos Checa

SPA

Althea Racing

1:58.472

5

Tom Sykes

GBR

Kawasaki Racing Team

1:58.641

6

Eugene Laverty

IRL

Yamaha World Superbike Team

1:58.756

7

Joan Lascorz

SPA

Kawasaki Racing Team

1:59.194

8

Ayrton Badovini

ITA

BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team

1:59.591

Eliminated in Superpole 2

9

Noriyuki Haga

JAP

PATA Racing Team Aprilia

1:58.566

10

Sylvain Guintoli

FRA

Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing

1:58.640

11

Michel Fabrizio

ITA

Team Suzuki Alstare

1:58.950

12

Mark Aitchison

AUS

Team Pedercini

1:59.680

Eliminated in Superpole 1

13

Jakub Smrz

CZE

Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing

1:59.355

14

Leon Haslam

GBR

BMW Motorrad Motorsport

1:59.367

15

Maxime Berger

FRA

Supersonic Racing Team

1:59.507

16

Troy Corser

AUS

BMW Motorrad Motorsport

1:59.565

Failed to Qualify for Superpole Session

17

Ruben Xaus

SPA

Castrol Honda

2:00.432

18

Chris Vermeulen

AUS

Kawasaki Racing Team

2:00.507

19

Roberto Rolfo

ITA

Team Pedercini

2:00.678

20

Lorenzo Lanzi

ITA

BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team

2:00.776

Melandri Beats Biaggi in Superpole at Aragon was last modified: June 29th, 2011